thank you all for sharing. that is it for me here in washington. "fox news sunday" is coming up next. captioned by closed captioning services, inc. >> chris: i'm chris wallace. mitt romney tries to bounce back from that controversial video while president obama faces new questions about the deadly attack in libya. with the white house changing its story about what happened during the assault on the u.s. consulate there is new criticism. will national security now become a campaignish are shoe? we will sit down with obama campaign senior advisor robert gibbs. and then, caught on tape, mitt romney's comments about people who don't pay federal taxes who

he says will never support him. can his campaign find a way out of this mess? we will ask a key romney support, wisconsin governor scott walker. gibbs and walker only on "fox news sunday." plus, new polls in key battle ground states give a boost to the president. we'll ask our sunday group if the upcoming debates are romney's best chance to turn things around. and from a stop at a burger joint to grandkids on a campaign flight, we'll go on the trail all right now on "fox news sunday." >> chris: and hello again from fox news in washington. with antiamerican violence across the islamic world and growing questions about what really happened at the u.s. consulate in libya national security has finally become part of the presidential campaign. joining us is obama campaign senior advisor and former white house press secretary robert

gibbs. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> chris: last sunday, the same show, the u.s. ambassador susan rise came on the show and i asked her about the attack in benghazi. here is what she said. >> the best information and the best assessment we have today is that in fact this was not a preplanned premeditated attack. that what happened initially was that it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in cairo as a consequence much the video. >> chris: why did ambassador rice give the american people bad information? >> the best information we had at point at which she gave that answer is the answer that she gave. ambassador rice has access to far more intelligence data than i do any more. i would say this as we have learned more and as this investigation continues i anticipate we will continue to learn more facts about the

awful asas assassination and mr of our great ambassador are in libya. you saw the white house say this was a terror attack and nobody wants to get to the bottom of this more than the president and the secretary of state so that we can protect our missions and our consulates throughout the world and remain engaged. >> chris: i specifically last sunday asked ambassador rice about the president of libya who was then saying it was preplanned. i specifically asked her about al-qaeda which said that it was revenge for the killing of a top al-qaeda leader. ms. rice didn't say we don't know, we'll get back to you. she said it was a spontaneous attack that was not preplanned that spun out of control. she had information at that time and the information she gave the american people was wrong. >> again, chris, i think you look back at that answer and she says the answer she has the information in the answer based on what she knew at that point. we have learned more and we are going to continue to learn more. the most important thing is we

get to the bottom of the intelligence and what happened and what may or may not have caused this incident. that the state department review of the security of our missions and our consulates not just in benghazi and tripoli but throughout the world make sure that we protect those that are there to serve our interests. you know, paul ryan has a budget that would cut diplomatic security. we don't think that is a good idea. >> chris: so in fact with your sequestration cut diplomatic security. >> see kiss expectation that the congress can solve when and if they -- sequestration that the congress can solve when and it they come to the table. it was again a result of the super committee involved completely of congress being unable to come up with being able to come up with. >> chris: the democrats insisted on certain cu and the republicans demanded certain cuts and security cuts were part of the demands of the obama white house, sir.

>> set up a committee to come to a conclusion and congress yet again shirked responsibilities and failed to come up with the cuts nose implement the debt agreement that speaker boehner and president obama had agreed to. but look, i think -- >> chris: let me go back if i can to the bad information that was being put out. you can say in good faith but the bad information that was being put out by the obama administration. here is what your successor press secretary jay carney said last week. let's list. >> we have no information to suggest it was a preplanned attack. the unrest we have seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that muslims, many muslims find offensive. >> chris: again, at the time that he said that there was plenty of information that it was a preplanned attack. susan collins the cochair of the senate homeland security committee said people don't show up to a spontaneous demonstration with rpgs,

rocket propelled grenades and machine guns. specific question hes because this is going to the bottom line. did the obama administration play down what happened in libya and what happened in cairo because it would make obama foreign policy look better? >> absolutely no one intentionally or unintentionally misled anybody involved in this. absolutely not. that is an answer that the press secretary gave on september 14. it is now september 23. we learn more information every single day about what happened. nobody wants to get to the bottom of this more than we do. look, let's also understand this. we saw a wave of violence throughout the region. what we saw in libya, though, was this weekend has been very important. 30,000 people in the streets protesting against islamic terrorists, against armed militias. this is a very dangerous region of the world. it has embraced democracy and is undergoing the beginnings of that democratic action.

none of this is going to be easy, chris. it is important that we remain fully engaged in this part of the world. the president talked with the leader in libya, talked to president morisy and they understood their obligations in protecting our consulates. >> you. >> chris: you talk about being fully engaged in that part of the world. the u.s. has now suspended all joint operations with afghan forces because they keep trying to kill the u.s. trainers. iran continues to build its nuclear program. the israeli prime minister netanyahu says that we don't have the "moral right to tell them whether or not they can attack iran." is that a successful foreign policy? >> let's unpack a few of these at a time. first and foremost, understand that the training of afghan security forces a few years ago meant getting fitted for a uniform, okay. we have progressed greatly in training an afghan security force that is going to let us

lead that -- >> chris: they suspended all joint operations. >> you unpacked a lot, chris. we are now going through and rescreening a number of afghan security forces to ensure that what has happened in 51 occasions is this year doesn't continue to happen. look, our commanders on the ground and our leaders here in washington certainly want that. the islamic republic of iran is suffering under the worst economic conditions because of the toughest economic sanctions ever put on them. >> chris: has there been the slightest indication they will slow down their nuclear program? >> chris, i don't have access to the intelligence on iran. i haven't been briefed on that in two years. >> chris: and no reports of it? >> in fact, let's be clear -- >> chris: they doubled the number of centrifuges at one face. >> they are dealing with the toughest economic sanctions because the world took a step together based on the leadership of barack obama, president barack obama. >> chris: but it is not working. >> chris, i don't think you

know enough about the intelligence or i know enough about the intelligence to understand. >> chris: come on, robert, you are telling meow have any indication that our policy is working in stopping iran from developing nuclear weapons. >> do i think our policy has made it far tougher for them to do that, absolutely. >> chris: that is not the question i asked. do you think it had any effect in stopping them from developing nuclear materials. >> if you you list tonight defense minister of israel, barack, he would tell you as he has told the world what we put in place with israel is complicating greatly their ability to build a nuclear weapon. >> chris: but they are continuing to do it. >> there are people throughout the world continuing to do it, it chris. that doesn't mean we will stop working every single day to make sure that they don't do that and that is what this president has said. our red line is that iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. that is our red line. that is what the president will enforce. he has taken nothing off the table when it comes to dealing with that. but i don't think there is any doubt four years ago, chris, we

couldn't get the chinese and the russians to even implement international sanctions because of the leadership of ambassador rice and president obama we were able to put in place the stiffest sanctions ever put on the country of iran. that is what is important and that has definitely slowed them down. >> chris: president obama is going to the u.n. general assembly this week but with the islamic world in flames the white house says he has no plans to have any private meetings with world leaders. why not? >> look, chris, we have schedules, leaders have schedules and in many cases those schedules aren't going to overlap. understand ambassador rice will be seeing people. secretary of state hillary clinton will be seeing people. and i think it is also important that we say this that let's not brand everything that is going on as muslims at large. this is clearly a small radical group of muslims that have

perverted the muslim religion. they have killed more muslims than any other relidg religione they are trying to gain power and take it away from people like those in libya that want to see progressive democratic action and give people basic human rights. >> chris: i want to go back to the u.n., though, and new york this week. you say that he has got schedules and that foreign leaders have schedules. but the president has blocked out time to appear on "the view" on tuesday. so he has time for whoopi goldberg but he doesn't have time for world leaders. >> no, chris, i -- look, the president is going to be actively involved at the u.n. general assembly. >> chris: not meeting with my private leaders. he is giving a speech. >> they have telephones in the white house. last week he talked to the president of egypt and leader in libya. we don't need a meeting in washington just to confer with leaders. >> chris: but he does need the time to be on "the view."

>> i'm sure if he was doing an interview with you on fox news you would have no problem with that. >> chris: well, he hasn't but that is not the point. >> i'm sure that is not the point. look, chris, he has a strong schedule and is actively involved. >> chris: you don't have a problem with the fact that he is not meeting with world leaders but he will appear on "the view"? >> you are the president of the united states every minute of every day. that is why you talk to the leader in turkey. a hugely important leader and country in that leade lead regf the world. and you pick up the phone to the president of egypt and tell them they have to have a strong reaction to the violence at our embassy and protect our consulate and embassies and the people that work in them. this isn't just about one meeting on one particular day in new york the president is actively involved and engaged in the most dangerous place in the world every single day of the week. >> chris: mitt romney released his tax returns friday and here is what they showed. tax rate of 14.1% in 2011 and

in is summary paid an average of 20.2% and never less than 13.7%. may be the single dumbest question i ever asked in my time here at "fox news sunday." does that end the romney tax return issue for the obama campaign? >> you put it up on the screen. he gave his accountant 20 years and gave the american people two. chris, what is he hiding? why does he have corporations in bermuda and investments in the caymans. why is somebody who says they will get tough on china investing in the chinese state oil company and banks in china. the american people deserve to know a lot more about mitt romney's finances because he hasn't been straight with the american people about the finances and hasn't been straight with the american people about what is going to happen with their taxes. middle class families as a result of the promises that mitt romney made are going to see taxes go up while he is going to cut taxes for people

just like him and i do think it is rich and special in many ways that mitt romney had to manipulate his tax rate by not taking all of the deductions he was eligible for. something that he said awhile ago would disqualify him from being president. manipulated to raise the rate to meet the rhetoric by saying that he paid at least 13% every year. did hdeductions, if he loses is race he can go back and get. he has not been straight with the middle class people about what is going to to their taxes. >> chris: a little time left. i want to get quick answers from you. this week we all saw the romney 47% video. i promise i will ask governor walk better that. i want to ask you a policy question. 47% of americans now live in austan hold where they get government benefits. 36% of american -- 46% of

americans don't pay any federal income taxes. beyond the politics and at this point there is nothing but politics but beyond the politics is it good policy for so many americans not to have any skin in the game? >> i think it is crazy that americans don't have skin in the game. the payroll tax hits lower to middle class families quite frankly harder than it hits somebody like mitt romney. they have got skin in the game. in that so called 47% mitt romney includes those that are living solely on medicare and social security right now. those are people that paid in to the system and now they are getting what is their benefits that are due. look, chris, i thought the most devastating thing about the video is not just the video itself but the reaction from candidate romney which is to say that he was inelegant in what he said. chris, what is the elegant way of saying that 47% of the people in it this country are moochers who don't care enough

about themselves or their place in life to take responsibility? i would love to hear the elegant phrasing of that. >> chris: finally -- we have a minute. maybe we will hear it from scott walker. the president and governor romney meet for their first debate ten days from today. how big a moment in the campaign and who has the advantage? >> i think it will be a big moment. twoys a big moment when two candidates get to sit side by side and answer the same questions. people will get a sense of what president obama has been talking about in terms of middle class security and a chance to contrast that with mitt romney's vision for america. mitt romney i think has and advantage because he has been through 20 of the debates in the primaries over the last year. he even bragged he was declared the winner in 16 of those debates. this that sense having been through this much more recently than president obama i think he starts with an advantage. >> chris: robert, thank you. thanks for coming in today. always good to talk with you,

stir. >> thank you. >> chris: up next, mitt romney comes under fire for controversial remarks on that secretly recorded videotape. we will talk with romney supporter governor scott walker of wisconsin, next. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad

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>> chris: mitt romney has had a tough week trying to explain secret lly recorded remarks he made at a fund racer last may in why he said 47% of americans don't pay income taxes and think of themselves as victims. we are joined by governor scott walker, romney supporter. welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> thank you for having me. >> chris: you said friday you

are bewildered by the wisconsin campaign since he picked wisconsin congressman paul ryan as his running mate and expected him to run a bolder reform campaign and so far he hasn't. why not? >> part of it is dealing with the tough issues on the side. if they he continue to be more aggressive just as they were days after mitt romney picked paul ryan. what i loved about the pick of paul ryan wasn't just about he was from wisconsin or paul ryan himself, it was we knew he mitt romney was qualified. issues h his time and a governor and with the olympics. it said to us he is not just qualified, he has the courage and passion to be an exceptional president. i want to see more of that on the campaign trail and in the debates. that is what people are hungry for. they want that in states like wisconsin and across the

country. >> chris: it has been a month since he he picked paul ryan. a couple of weeks since then, are they wasting paul ryan and the opportunity to present a reform ade aden again da? >> i think it is not just about paul ryan. i have talked to paul a lot here. he was just in florida the other day. i think he is doing an effective job on the campaign trail. i would like to see more of the enthusiasm that i saw when the two of them were together early on. i think that is what mitt romney believes in and that will draw people to mitt romney not only in my state but in states across the country particularly battle ground states and this is really what is at stake here. we talk about the comment that was talked about this week. i think that takes away from the larger issue which is pretty simple. this president and his allies measure success in government by how many people are dependent on the government, particularly on unemployment benefits. i think mitt romney i and others the majority of the people in this country define success in government as just the opposite by how many people are not dependent on the government. not because we kicked them out

into the streets but rather because we empowered small businesses and the private sector to create more jobs and leads to greater prosperity and freedom and that is the focus we have to have. the more we get off on the side issues whether it is individual taxes that distracts from the larger debate at stake here one which we have seen in the last four years have failed. he think we need to move towards one that will have a vision of us moving forward again. >> chris: you say it is a distraction but it is big news and we can't ignore it the video that was released this week because a lot of voters are receiving this information in which romney told big donors last may in florida at a fundraiser about the 47% he said, actually 46% of americans who don't pay federal income taxes. let's watch what he said. >> there are 47% who are with them who are depetn enupon government who believe that they are victims who believe that a government has the responsibility to care for them

who believe they entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, you name it. >> chris: what do you think of romney saying that 47% of americans think of themselves as victims. >> i don't know the specifics of what he meant. i can tell you in the larger context, most people i talk to including people unemployed today here in the state of wisconsin don't want to be. they would like to be able to go out and grab a job in the private sector and put food on the table and clothes on the backs of their kids and live a better life throughout. a vast majority of people dependent on unemployment benefits don't want to be. they want to live the american dream. that is the contrast. we he have a president largely taking an attack at the american spirit and free enterprise system and in president romney would embrace that and all people could improve be their livelihood. that is the aspirational message that we need to hear and what drew people like me many years ago to somebody like

president regan who shared the same beliefs. i believe that is what governor romney believes in. the more we get him out on the stump in states like wisconsin and here that he will be better off in this election. >> chris: of course, he didn't say that and this is the last time i will ask you about that and we will move on. he seemed to write off. he didn't say these are people who are on hard times but want to get out of hard times. he was staying they are 47% and they are victims and they feel entitled and they are never going to vote for me anyway so i'm not going to worry about them. he didn't say what you just said. >> but that is the context. what we hear on the campaign trail and the other side in fact, you heard a little bit even from mr. gibbs earlier the mindset that somehow even after four years this president isn't responsible for the economy and 43 months of unemployment above 8% and 23 million of fellow he americans looking for work today. even in the foreign policy and south discussions he said that is not our fault that is the

congress fault. that is a failure to lead. we need mitt romney out there making the case about how his leadership is not go only going to ultimately win the election but more importantly how they will put them back to work not because we have government on the way and put people to work in the private sector. that is the message i hope resonates at the first debate and will continue between now and november 6. >> chris: you said that you felt too many people are restraining romney from giving his vision. i guess the question becomes let's tay that you suddenly are appointed campaign chairman. what would you say to romney? what does he need to do this week during the bus tour in ohio? what does he need to do when is face to face, man to man with barack obama at this first debate? >> i think you have to get off the hills and get out and charge forward. americans want a fighter and someone who is not going to fight over politics but rather who shows that this guy mitt romney is going to fight for the american people when gets

in the office. he is not going to be on his heels. he will move forward and he has a great plan. he just needs nor more of an opportunity to get beyond the side-bar issues that i think are distracting from the incredibly positive for salmonella citizen's bank plan he has is got to then them move forward. certainly in part it is a referendum on this president, no doubt about it. particularly in my state where there is a lot of swing independent voters they want to no more than what is wrong with this president. they want to know what is right and is going to move the country forward. i have seen it in mitt romney in wisconsin and in janesville and waukesha and elsewhere. i want to see that in mitt romney. if he does, i think he will win the election. >> chris: let's talk about wisconsin which has not gone republican since ronald reagan in 1984. mr. obama was campaigning in milwaukee yesterday for the

first time since february. having said that the real clear poll ficks average shows obama with a 7-point lead in your state and one poll shows that the president now leads romney on who is better at handling the economy. question, governor, is wisconsin really in play this year? >> i really think it is. i mean in my recall reelection we won in june by more votes than were cast two years ago by a larger percentage than two years ago and many of the polls show that it would be that tight. in fact, some of thionity polls showed it it was aplite decision. i think there is a lot of things moving here. certainly there is a very clear political vision, had been for years between republican and democrat in 2000 and 2004 we were the closest blue state in america. only a couple thousand votes out of 2.35 million made the difference. the fact that the president was here and mitt romney's son was here yesterday and mitt

romney's wife ann was here a couple of days ago. both joe biden and paul ryan were here last week. i think you will see plenty more attention to wisconsin as well aces, iowa, between now and the convention. i said all along to mitt romney if he wants to win wisconsin it doesn't just stand for republican, it stands for reformer. if he shows that in wisconsin the swing voters swing his way and he can win the election. >> chris: letts talk about your big reform issue. you made national news the last few years with your law that you pushed and amid great opposition. nine days ago a wisconsin county judge overturned part of that law as unconstitutional when it comes to school workers and local government workers. how gig is back is that for you, governor? >> westerlies it is a problem

in the short-term because a lot of the local governments already set the tax levies and already have it in place. moody's even put out notice of a negative outlook for the local government's bond ratings because of that decision. is last year we had another activity liberal judge from dane county be the capital base of the state make a decision that ultimately was overturned and the law upheld by the state supreme court. i'm confident that that will happen wen. in our state we had legal action and a recall election where a governor was elected in this case by a larger margin than the four. we are ready to move forward. it is good because the reforms saved money. more than a billion dollars worth of savings. property taxes went down for the first time in 12 years on a medium valued home. a major budget deficit turned into a surplus. we are moving the state forward and this is just a temporary setback until the upper court

uphelds that. >> chris: less than a minute left. another labor issue as you know i'm sure they just ended a messy and angry school strike in chicago. first of all, how did you think that rahm emanuel the mayor of chicago handled it? and secondly, will yew beginning to see. >> i mentioned even before the strike in places like chicago where wampum emanuel or even some of 9 other states look at massachusetts, new york, others out there when you are the chief executive be it a mayor or governor the buck stops with you. you ultimately have got to make decisions that make things work. what we did with our reforms much like they tried to do in chicago. mayor rahm emanuel was just talking about in particular about having accountability and measures in which you can hold people accountable and hire and

fire based on merit. that is what we did in wisconsin. when it you pay based on performance you can put the best and brightest in your classrooms and keep them there. good for the classrooms and stew you dents and good for great teachers. >> chris: we will be watching what happens in wisconsin, sir. >> thank you, chris. >> chris: up next, where does the presidential race stand ten days before the first debate? we will ask our sunday group for their assessment when we come right back. [ mother ] you can't leave the table till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love.

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my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them. that they should take personal responsibility and care for themselves. >> i don't believe we have have a leader who writes off half of the nation as a bunch of

victims and think that they are not interested in taking responsibility tore their own lives. i don't see a lot of victims in this crowd today. >> chris: president obama jumping on what has now become mitt romney's infamous 47% video and time for the sunday group. brit hume, fox news senior political analyst. kasie hunt of the associated press. bill kristol from the weekly standard and fox news political analyst juan williams. bill, you didn't waste any time after the video coming out saying that mr. romney was quote, his remarks were, are let's condemn the action, not the man. stupid and arrogant. any second thoughts? >> i might have been a tad harsh i suppose. some people have informed me of that. i think the romney campaign thought it was a little bit over the top. if you have been a conservative fighting for 30 years and i got to washington 25 years ago and made the case over and over to

skeptical audiences, conservatives really do want everyone in the country to do better. we are for tax cuts to help the economy and especially help those who want upward mobility and economic opportunity not just to help those ready and doing well. you try to make the arguments voter and over and see the republican presidential candidate seem to say if you don't pay income taxes you don't care about the tax code and there is not much i have to say to you and if you are quote dependent on government which includes senior citizens getting medicare and the like then i can't really expect your vote. it was a blow, actually. honestly. i would hate for are conservativism to be redefined in that way and i think that is why i react. >> i'm not moving on. >> chris: was it as bad as bill kristol says? >> well, it wasn't good. it is not fatal but the problem with episodes like this is that they shut you down in terms of making any news at all about

whatever else you might prefer to be talking about for several days. you get to play defense for some comments. look, the 47% pay no income taxes is fine, that is basically true. the rest about people seeing themselves as victims and dependent on the government is not true and therefore very unfortunate and he has been dealing with it for days. here this came out in the middle of the week and we are still talking about it on sunday. this is a campaign running out of time and getting late and he can't afford to lose days on dealing with things he doesn't want to talk about. this hurt. >> kasie, you spent months covering the romney campaign. how much trouble do they think they are in and what is their plan to turn things around and as brit says, not much time, 44 days? >> they do recognize just how difficult the 47% remark was. as brit was saying he is

exactly right. they know this was not good for them and that it pushed them away from they were starting to see some stuff kind of take hold and the polls moving in their direction and all of a sudden this he have the distraction where we spent the last four or five days talking about it. to go forward they really are look at the next week as their chance to get back into the rhythm and go with the theme that the country can't afford barack obama for four more years. that is what we will see through the bus tour in ohio and if they can recali bright they will have an opportunity at the first debate to shake things up. >> chris: although he was milder than he had been in his radio comments you heard governor scott walker saying we need more passion and more of a reform positive agenda. what you are talking about doesn't sound like whatalker is looking for. >> they have been struggling with this all along. a referendum election or choice election. for many months they felt in f.

we can make this a referendum on president barack obama mitt romney will be able to walk straight into the role or have the opportunity to do that. clear that we have seen demand both from conservatives as well as from voters for more from mitt romney on what he is going to do for the country. and he is going to have to chance to do that on tuesday at the clinton global initiative. he will take a break from the ohio bus tour to address that audience and we could see more policy specifics come out there. >> chris: juan the next big event on the calendar is the debates which start on october 3. you covered a lot of debates. i covered a lot of debates. what do you think of the chances for this being a game changer and before or during the debate what does romney need to do differently? >> has the potential to be a game changer. i think you will have a large audience. i think people will be attentive and want to see if something comes of it. the history brit and i were talking earlier and there is just not a lot of history of presidential debates. in fact, being so explosive and

changing the game but there is the potential there because of the audience and focus. there is not that much benchmark moments to come before the election and you would have to point to the bebaits as one of those. you asked what does he have to do. i think the polls are presenting a problem here because on the economy which has been the driving force behind this campaign now you see more and more americans saying we think the economy is mosquing in the right direction. a big shift and that presents a problem for the romney campaign. what he has to do now is sort of move his message beyond even saying specifically what would do about the economy to even larger issues have, late in the game to try to plow new you ground if you will, chris and try to get the american people to see him in this different light. you look at right now a place like, iowa, suddenly obama is up by 8. ohio obama is up. florida or virginia. it is just getting very difficult to imagine how romney progresses and makes the case that he can win and that is the

problem you are hearing from republicans. >> chris: bill i want to turn to another subject. during a very interesting is session and tough session with univision this week president obama was asked what is the big lesson from the last four years. he said the big lesson is you can't change, washington, from the inside you have to change it from the outside and if he is reelected he will have more of a conversation with the american people. is is that the right takeaway of the last four years. >> i don't think it is and the romney campaign should explain that it isn't. if this is just about the last four years that is a muddy verdict. bush was president during the financial meltdown. the obama teams turned that around pretty well. clinton speech at convention was good in that way. how horrible was it four years ago. he has to make it a choice on the next four years and what obama would do that would be bad for the country and what he would do that would be good for the country. it was a good interview for robert gibbs.

the latter part, the economy, is he did fine. they have the talking points down. no one is going to change his mind on that. what was the part where he was rattled and had trouble answering your questions? foreign policy. headlines. obama needs to make the case on international security. voters are watching and turning on the the tv and embassies being burned and demonstrations pakistan. what can the president about this? romney shouldance that question. if they go back to mindlessly reminding people guess what the economy is not great they will waste the next ten days. >> chris: we have to move on. the president will have the opportunity to explain all that to the ladies of "the view" is. >> exactly right. >> chris: we have to take a break. when we come back, president obama also had his troubles this week with antiamerican violence in the middle east and a changing story about what happened at our consulate in

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the natural protests that arose because of the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by extremists to see if they can also directly harm u.s. interests. >> they still are blaming the video. and they have a fundamental misunderstanding. they believe it was the video. it is not the video. >> chris: senator john mccain and president obama disagreering sharply over the attack that killed four americans in libya. we are back with the panel. slowly and grudgingly the obama administration finally acknowledged this week that it it was a terrorist attack that took down the u.s. consulate in

libya. brit, why do you think they had such trouble saying that? >> i think the obama administration is deeply invested in the idea that the presence of barack obama and his attitude toward the muslim world and outreach toward the muslim world had changed the fundamentals in the muslim world that was beneficial to the united states and that we are withdrawing from iraq and out of iraq and gradually withdrawing from afghanistan. the president has made speeches of outreach and that this had changed things and what happened across the muslim world in the last week or ten days is powerful evidence that very little has changed and i don't think the administration was prepared to face that and they went into spin mode and it turned out very bad l badly fom when what seemed plain as the nose on one's face to i think most americans, the anniversary of 9/11, attack on the embassy, evidently prepared rounds and rounds of ammunition present,

was denied by this administration for days and even now they keep falling back on talking about the video. you know, this ought to have been a terrible embarrassment. i'm not sure it appeared that way at least in its coverage but that is what it should be. >> chris: kacie? >> you have seenly seen as romney tried to deal with this as well as with the administration while he jumped on it it initially and took a lot of the heat in the beginning this is an evolving situation for the obama campaign. he spoke before all of the facts were none and the reality is now the facts are still coming out for what happened and that is going to be something that the administration is going to have to deal with going forward as opposed to romney. and if you think about it the fact that they are now calling it an act of terror that is one area where obama has been able to claim success. no attacks on the u.s. they is successfully killed osama bin laden. i mean that is something that they have really been pushing forward as one of the successes

in this administration. and what is going on in the middle east jeopardizes that. >> chris: bill, the state department also this week spent $70,000 on -- to run public service announcement ads on pakistani television denouncing the video that infamous video that i insults the prophet muhammad. here is a clip. >> the united states government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. we absolutely reject its content and message. >> chris: as that ad was running on tv in pakistan in the streets we saw and as you you can see here some of the worst antiamerican violence of the week. i guess the question is were the protesters elevating the importance of the video are was the obama administration? >> they have ban been elevatint for two week weeks. the chairman of the joint

chiefs of staff called a paston and said don't talk about that video. kind of pathetic in terms of the u.s. making its case toward the world. president obama is going to it address the video at u.n. council just in case you don't know that he doesn't approve of the video. if the romney campaign can't make the case, it is an embarrassment to the administration. they have to deal with what happened the last two weeks. they are not going to have to deal with it really unless the opposing presidential candidate makes them deal with it. we can criticize and say it makes them look bad but if voters don't see the other presidential candidate making the case they tend to think the world is a mess and it is tough and maybe the president is not doing great. romney doesn't seem to have anything to say about it. the next 48 hours is important. the president speaking at the u.n. and the ridiculous video story discredited.

the republican presidential candidate can't explain why president obama's foreign policy is failing and why his would be better, it would be a missed opportunity. >> chris: that brings us to the question in the campaign, will it matter? even if you buy what some of us are saying which is that this appears to be a defeat or a failure on the part of obama foreign policy is it enough to make people switch from obama to romney? >> i don't buy the analysis. i think what we are doing at the table is con flating events in libya where there appears to be some acts that were organized. >> chris: that is exactly what susan rice said didn't happen a week ago. >> i'm saying that seems to have happened in libya. that is not what is happening in egypt and yemen and elsewhere in the middle east. i think there is a separate set of facts here. the second thing to say is president obama has come into the campaign in a unique standing with a unique standing

for a democrat which is that he has a substantial advantage in the polls when it comes to the american per isception of his conduct of american policy. the american people see him as much stronger than any are republican in this area. his approval rating right now big news went up to 50%. also on foreign policy in the "wall street journal" 49% of americans approve of the way he is doing business. >> chris: that is actually down. it was 49% and now 46% disapprove. his percentage on o foreign policy has gone down. >> it is substantial. if you can get half of the american people you are doing well. bill is on target if you can make the case. i don't think the american people in the aftermath of what took place in iraq, afghanistan, bin laden are going to say oh o, you know what, i really don't like what this guy is doing on foreign policy. >> really? you think afghanistan is a test ament to what happened to his wisdom? what happened on the base this week. shows the withdrawal -- >> all the gains that we made because of a surge that who ordered? president obama. he sent kids over there to

fight and now he has undercut the sacrifice. >> and how much coverage did that attack get in the american press? not much? why? the american people excited about one thing when it comes to afghanistan, bill and that is getting out. >> and the press should reflect that? >> the press should report the story. >> the other night on special report the day after the administration witness said on capitol hill that benghazi was a terrorist attack bret baier held up a copy of the new york times to note that the "new york times" had not mentioned it anywhere in the paper. remarkable. this is how it will be for a republican at this stage of the general election campaign. the media is not going to help the republican broadly speaking the media. a smart republican campaign recognizes that plans for that and thinks of ways to counter act it. they have done it in the past. it is not at all clear to me romney campaign is doing that.

>> chris: is this going to make any difference in terms of the election? >> it could if the issue were developed and responded to effectively by, as bill suggests, the other candidate. i don't think that happened. >> do you think that is wishful thinking? do you think you are reachle? >> i'm saying i don't think it has happened. >> chris: thank you, panel. see you next week. follow us on twitter @ fox news sunday. up next, we go on the trail. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if we took the nissan altima and reimagined nearly everything in it? gave it greater horsepower and best in class 38 mpg highway... ...advanced headlights... ...and zero gravity seats? yeah, that would be cool. ♪ introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites.

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>>. >> chris: this week we have videos from four months ago and 14 years ago and with the candidates scrambling for every possible advantage, it got rough and tumble on the trail. ♪ >> 47% of americans pay no income tax. >> my expectation if you want to be president you have to work for everybody. >> this is campaign about hundred percent. >> i think the trick in figuring out how we structure government systems that pool resources there has to be redistribution but i actually believe in redistribution. >> mitt romney and you are not running to redistribute the wealth. mitt romney and you are helping

to help americans create wealth. >> there we go. >> most important lesson i've learned you can't change washington from the inside. you can only change it from the outside. >> he can only change it from outside, we'll give him a chance in november. he is going outside. >> we believe that here in america we're all in this together. [ applause ] >> we believe america only works when we accept responsibility for ourselves but also certain responsibilities for each other and our country. >> of course, we will a always be there we are compassion ast people. as someone has said we don't measure compassion by how many people are on food stachbls, we measure how many people can get off of food stamps and get a

good job. >> chris: and we still have 44 days and four debates to go until electio